A man died of suspected rabies under the Singarcholi flyover on the intervening night of Saturday and Sunday, raising alarm over a possible public health hazard. His body lay unattended for hours, as his grieving wife and children sat nearby.
The deceased, Bablu Rana, 32, was a migrant labourer from Sagar who lived with his family under the flyover on Airport Road. A month ago, he had been bitten by a stray dog and was taken to Hamidia Hospital but fled before completing treatment, his wife told the police.
"His condition worsened—he behaved oddly and foamed at the mouth before his death."
Passers-by finally alerted Kohefiza police, who shifted the body to the Hamidia Hospital mortuary late at night. A final post-mortem report will be released on Monday.
Health experts have flagged the risk of rabies exposure to others through infected fluids. Though human-to-human transmission is rare, the body’s prolonged presence in the open has raised fears, especially with stray animals and other homeless families nearby. The area is yet to be sanitised.
The incident has spotlighted the fragile state of the city’s homeless. Bablu’s children remained seated beside his corpse for hours, unaware of the danger it posed.